Brake



-July 24,v 1934.

G. F. HOUSTON BRAKE Filed Nov. '7. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet, l

INVENTOR.

GEORGE F. Houswm ATTORNEY Patented July 24, 1934 i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BRAKE George F. Houston, South Bend, Ind., assgnor to Bendix Brake Company, South Bendl Ind., a corporation of Illinois Application November 7, 1929, Serial No. 405,324 16 Claims. (Cl. 18S-78) This invention relates to brakes and is illusplate 24 is moved inthe indentation, it rotates trated as embodied in an internal expanding the anchor 18 about its axis, thereby spreading brake suitable for use on automobiles. apart the ends of the shoe 14, thus adjusting the One object of the invention is to provide more shoe for Wear. The anchor may be further held emcient operating and adjusting mechanisms for in place by nut 29. It is clear that as this ad- 60 the brakes. justment is made by the anchor, the shoes re- Another object of the invention is to 'provide main in contact therewith, thus minimizing the means for adjusting the brake which will leave danger of clicking. the shoes contacting with the anchor, thus mini- The novel actuating mechanism is operated mizing the likelihood of the click which occurs by a flexible cable 32 which extends into a hous- 65 when the shoe is thrust against the anchor. One ing 34 attached to the back of the backing plate of the main features of the invention lies in the 12. The cable is attached by the pivot 36 to the use of an anchor which may be turned to spread spreader bar 16 on which are pivoted actuating the shoes apart for the purpose of adjustment. rollers 38 and 40 which co-act with the web near l5 Another feature of the invention lies inthe use the two -ends of the brake shoe which may be 70 of a spreader bar which co-acts with the two end reinforced with a second web 39 if desired. portions of the brake shoe having sliding engage- Roller is pivoted on a spindle 42 (Figure 4) ment with one which is especially shaped to secure which is extended to co-act with the slot 46 gradual Spreading. in the anchor adjustment plate 24. This slot and zo In the drawings: spindle direct the movement of the roller 40 so 75 Figure 1 is a'view showing one embodiment of as to thrust the brake shoe against the drum, as the invention, some of the parts being shown in shown. The operation of the brake is as follows: release and some in braking position for ease in The cable 32 compressing spring 41 raises one illustration. end of the spreader bar 16, thus causing the Figure 2 iS e CIOSS Section alOng the line 2-2 rollers 38 and 40 to expand the brake shoe l4 80 0f Figure 1; against the drum 10, the braking torque being Figure 3 is a fragmentary cross section along taken up by anchor 18. the line 3-3 0f Figure 1 SliOWing l011e Operating When the lining has worn and adjustment is Cable ennneelifin;l necessary, the nuts 26 and 29 are loosened and Figure 4 iS a erOSS SeetiOn along the line 4-4 the anchor adjustment plate 24 is moved counter- 35 0f Figure 1; clockwise, thus spreading the brake shoe the de- Figure 5 iS e View 0f anOi'fher embodiment 0f sired amount. Very little adjustment of the this inVentiOn; operating mechanism is necessary because the Figure 6 iS e CIOSS Section along the line 6-6 adjusting of the friction means merely slides an- Of Figure 5; other part of the web into contact with the 90 Figure 'l iS e CIOSS Section along the line 7-7 rollers 38 and 40 so that the only take-up neces- 01' Figure 5; sary is for the slight change in the thickness of Figure 8 is affcross ser-tion along the line 8`8 `.the web and lining at the new points of 'contact 0f Figure 5; and of rollers with the web.

Figure 9 is a cross section of the brake shoe As has been explained above, the anchor re- 95 nleng Ithe line 9-9 01 Figure 1. mains in contact with the shoe after this adjust- A braking mechanism iS SuDDOrted Within the ment, thus decreasing the danger of clicking. brake drum 10 by the backing plate 12. As illus- The embodiment of Figure 5 is designed to traifed, it Consists mainly Of e Single brake Shoe make unnecessary any adjustment in the operat- 14 which is actuated bythe spreader 16 and aning mechanism after adjustment of the shoe. 100

ChOred by nebor 18- Suitable release Springs. In this embodiment, as in that shown in Figure 1, centering devices and steady Irests may be used the came 132 operates the spreader 116 en d as illustrated. The backing plate 12 has an inrollers 138 and 140. If desired, an eccentric dentation 22 therein, in which is secured the an- 50 may beprovided in either embodiment to limit cher 18. Integral with or rigidly attached to the the release movement of the spreader. Instead lanchor 18 is an anchor adjustment plate 24 which of the guide slot 46 I use in this embodiment the lies in the indentation 22 and is adjustable there' toggle 52 which at one end is pivoted anchor in, being secured in a given position by means of 118 by la pin 54, and at the other is pivoted to the nut and bolt 26 which slide in the slot 28 of the spindle of roller 140. Anchor 118 extends the indentation in the backing plate. As this through the backing plate and has an adjustment head 56. As clearly shown in Figure 7, it is locked in the adjusted position by a nut 58 and the lock washer 60, which is keyed to the anchor shaft and has radial ribs 59 engaging ribs 61 rigidly secured to the backing plate.

When the brake is adjusted by turning the anchor 118 about its axis, the same movement raises roller 140 by means of toggle 52 to a wider portion 64 of the web of the brake shoe 114. Thus at the same time the shoe is spread apart in adjustment, roller 140 rides onto a higher part of the web, thrusting spreader 116 to the left. The shape of the web at 64 is such that the roller 138 will be shoved to the left just the amount that the coacting part of shoe 114 recedes to the left. I'hus the rollers 138 and 140 are kept constantly in contact with the shoe 114 as is the anchor 118. This eliminates both the necessity of taking up the slack in the cable 132 or its connections and the danger of clicking which would occur if shoe 114 were spaced from anchor 1182 Any suitable release springs and centering adjustments may be provided. One possible centering adjustment is illustrated in detail in Figure 8, in which 68 represents a spacer member attached to the backing plate, 66 is the centering device which extends through a large hole in the spacing member 68 and through a radial slot in the backing plate 12 and which is adapted to engage a portion of the web 64. The centering member is held in position by means of the nut 70. This centering device may, of course, be replaced by an eccentric.

While two illustrative embodiments of my invention have been described in detail, it is not my intention to limit the scope of the invention to those particular embodiments or otherwise than by the terms of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Brake mechanism including friction means comprising a friction face and a web extending therefrom, actuating means co-acting with said web and moving relative to said web, said web being reinforced at the point of coaction with said actuating means, the web being so shaped that the relative movement thrusts the friction means circumferentially outward.

2. A brake including friction means, actuating means therefor, a toggle for restricting the movement of part of said actuating means, and means to operate said actuating means.

3. Brake mechanism including friction means, a backing plate, an anchor extending therethrough, said anchor having a projection extending along said backing plate, said projection having a slot therein, an actuating-member having a projection extending into said slot, said actuating member co-acting with the two sides of the friction means to spread said friction means apart. l

4. Brake mechanism including friction means, an anchor therefor, said anchor being rotatable and of such shape that its rotation will spread apart the ends of the friction means, said anchor having a projection lying along a backing plate and means for preventing movement between said projection and said backing plate, said projection having a slot therein and actuating means slidable in said slot to actuate the friction means.

5. Brake mechanism including friction means, actuating means therefor, means for adjusting said friction means and means for adjusting said actuating means, said actuator adjusting means being operated by said first-mentioned adjusting means.

6. Brake mechanism including friction means having a friction face and a web extending therefrom, a rotatable anchor contacting with two parts of said friction means and so shaped as to spread said parts upon being rotated, actuating means for said friction means and a connection between said anchor and said actuating means whereby adjustment of the anchor adjusts said actuating means.

'7.- Brake mechanism including friction means having a friction face and a web extending therefrom, actuating means extending vbetween two parts of said web and means for moving both ends of said actuating means along said web, said web varyingv in width along the path of said motion and thereby having wedging spreading engagement with said actuating means.

8. Brake mechanism including friction means having a friction face and a web extending therefrom, a rotatable anchor pin between two parts of said friction means, an actuating bar between two parts of said web, a connection between said anchor and said bar whereby rotation of said anchor moves said bar, the web being so shaped that the movement of said actuating bar substantially compensates for the movement of said friction means during a given rotation of said anchor.

9. Brake mechanism including a backing plate, friction means and actuating means therefor comprising a spreader bar in engagement with said friction means on one side of the backing plate and a cable on the other side.

10. Brake mechanism including friction means, supporting means, actuating means consisting of a spreader bar movable along two parts of the friction means, the friction means being of such shape that said movement thrusts the spreader toward another part of the friction means.

11. Brake mechanism including friction means, supporting means, actuating means consisting of a spreader bar movable along one part of the friction means, the friction means being of such shape that said movement thrusts the spreader toward another part of the friction means, the other end of said spreader being guided by a slot in said supporting means.

12. A brake including a drum, friction means, actuating means engaging the inside of said friction means, said friction means being movable in contact with said actuating means to make adjustments for wear, and said friction means being so shaped as to retain the actuating means at least as far from the adjacent drum rim after the adjusting movement for wear as before.

13. A brake including a drum, friction means, actuating means engaging the inside of said friction means, said friction means being movable in contact with said actuating means to make adjustments for wear, and said friction means being so shaped as to force the actuating means further from the adjacent drum rim during adjustment of said friction means for wear.

14. A brake mechanism comprising friction means having spreadable ends, an anchor located therebetween, a rigid anchor support, said anchor extending through said support and being of such shape that rotation thereof may spread said ends, and a Washer keyed to said anchor and to said support and adapted to hold said anchor against rotation.

15. A brake mechanism comprising friction means having spreadable ends, an anchor located therebetween, a rigid anchor support, said anchor extending through said support and being of such 156 shape that rotation thereof may spread said ends, a washer keyed to said anchor and to said sup-u port, actuating means for said brake, and oompensating means including a link eccentrically pivoted to said anchor adapted to compensate said actuating means for rotation of said anchor.

16. A brake mechanism comprising friction means having spreadable ends, an anchor there. for, said anchor being rotatable and of such shape 

